Old tractors in use.

Yesterday, along with my daughter, SIL, and grandsons, I attended the Medicine Lodge, Kansas Peace Treaty Pageant.

There were a number of antique tractors in the morning parade including a sideways engine Case. The model eludes me.

At the pageant grounds parking areas, tractors and flatbed trailers with bales on them were used to transport attendees from the parking area to the entrance gate.

While most of the tractors being used were very nice looking antique ones a few modern tractors were also used to fulfill the transportation needs. After all, moving 7,000 to 10,000 or more people does take a lot of tractors and trailers and the operators were doing an excellent job of keeping up with the new arrivals.

The pageant is a reenactment of the Plains Indians (5 tribes) signing a Peace Treaty with the U.S. government in 1867.

I'm not sure I have ever seen so many horses and work horses gathered in one spot before. The horses and longhorn cattle were well trained and most never even flinched from the cannon being fired nor the many rounds of ammunition being fired sporadically.

A very impressive pageant and the residents of the entire area are to be commended for the giant effort it takes to produce this event. Sadly, it may have been the last year for it to take place.

Why are they ending the show??? I know that shows with horses are getting few and far between. Here in eastern Iowa they had a team run away last year in a parade. There where several killed and several hurt. It has made the insurance go through the roof for events.

I hate to see events end but it seems that fewer people have the time to help at them anymore. I am including myself in that too. It seems like it takes much more time just to get by any more.

The end of the reenactments isn't a done deal yet but all of the committee members have tired of the extreme amount of work it takes for the production.

The reenactment lasts nearly two full hours. Hundreds of actors appear. Because of the sheer effort it takes it is put on about every 3-5 years is another reason. Expect it would otherwise have burned out long before now.

Of course with a 3-5 year span between presentations I expect that it is somewhat like starting from scratch each time as folks age and are replaced by younger folks.

The pageant has been presented since the 1920s which for it to last this long is amazing.

While I didn't count the number of wagons used along with teams to pull them I expect there were 25-30. That is a tremendous amount of equipment to maintain and a lot of horses to keep trained along with the expense of feeding them. Doubt there would otherwise be many draft horses kept on the farms.

It is a little different with the saddle horses as they can have other uses, pleasure and cattle work in part, as well as rodeos, etc.

With the cattle and horses working so well around noise and responding so well to their proper roles there has to be a lot of time involved for rehearsals and training. I only saw one horse during the parade and pageant time that showed fear from the noise. It was part of a team tied to a covered wagon and it jerked back hard enough that the far wheels of the wagon came off of the ground. A driver was with them and they were immediately settled back down with no further nerves showing.

Whether the event will ever take place again or not only time will tell. I'm anxious to see the attendance numbers from this year to see how they compare to prior years. I expect higher counts since this may have been the last.

My grandsons are still too young to really grasp and enjoy the pageant so I hope that it will continue. My son in law was really impressed so I know they will be back it is ongoing.